Norman Fertsch was sentenced Thursday in Salem Superior Court after pleading guilty to nine counts of indecent assault and battery on a child.

Prosecutors say the 47-year-old Fertsch was living with the victims and their mother when he began offering the older of the girls "massages" starting in 2000. Prosecutors say Fertsch would start with something seemingly innocent, but soon was touching the girl inappropriately. The abuse continued for about three years until the older girl was 14. Then Fertsch turned to the younger girl, who was 9.

The Salem News reports that Fertsch's lawyer said his client accepts responsibility for his actions.

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzkokhar Tsarnaev rested their case in his federal death penalty trial Tuesday after presenting a brief case aimed at showing his late older brother was the mastermind of the 2013 terror attack.